'Argentina closes sad chapter of indebtedness'

The Economy Ministry has issued a statement praising the agreement reached with the Paris Club, considering it a “mutually beneficial” deal. The office run by Minister Axel Kicillof – who headed Argentina’s mission in France – highlighted the “search for a solution” to the dispute “has always been a goal of the government that in 2008 made the decision of totally clearing the debt in one payment.”

The text adds the decision to honour the payment with the Paris Club – “with a decree already signed” – had to be “postponed” since it “was frustrated by the outbreak of the world financial crisis and the collapse of Lehman Borthers.”

“Argentina continues the path to the normalisation of international debts produced by the 2001 default,” the Economy Ministry explains in its statement.

“With the accord reached today, Argentina closes another chapter of the sad indebtedness story that led, inevitably, to the default. The payment scheme that was agreed on sensibly reduces the financial cost of the unpaid debt, that currently accumulates interests and penalties with an average rate of 7 percent.”

Acccording to the official position, the Paris Club deal “guarantees the viability of payments of financial commitments as a whole” and it is “compatible with the expiration dates that the country will face in the future and involves no condition to carry out its economy policies.”